U.S. patent number 7,561,846 [Application Number 11/220,466] was granted by the patent office on 2009-07-14 for vehicle-to-vehicle communication.
This patent grant is currently assigned to GM Gobal Technology Operations, Inc.. Invention is credited to Carroll C. Kellum.
United States Patent |
7,561,846 |
Kellum |
July 14, 2009 |
Vehicle-to-vehicle communication
Abstract
A method for vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The method
includes receiving data about a first vehicle and a second vehicle
within a proximity of an intermediate node, where the receiving is
at the intermediate node. The first vehicle is notified about the
presence of the second vehicle and/or the second vehicle is
notified about the presence of the first vehicle in response to the
receiving.
Inventors: |
Kellum; Carroll C. (Rochester
Hills, MI) |
Assignee: |
GM Gobal Technology Operations,
Inc. (Detroit, MI)
|
Family
ID: |
37830647 |
Appl.
No.: |
11/220,466 |
Filed: |
September 7, 2005 |
Prior Publication Data
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|
|
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20070054685 A1 |
Mar 8, 2007 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
455/41.2;
455/517; 455/412.2; 455/345 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G08G
1/166 (20130101); G01S 13/931 (20130101); B60W
50/14 (20130101); B60W 2554/00 (20200201); G01S
2013/9316 (20200101); B60W 2050/008 (20130101); B60G
2800/98 (20130101); G01S 2013/932 (20200101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04B
5/00 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;455/517,456.1,41.1,41.2,456.3,445,456.6,345,569.2,466,435.1,412.2,454,3.05,452.1 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Lee; John J
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for vehicle-to-vehicle communication, the method
comprising: at an intermediate node, receiving data about a first
vehicle; receiving data about a second vehicle; in response to the
receiving the data about the first and the second vehicles, at
least one of, notifying the first vehicle about the presence of the
second vehicle and notifying the second vehicle about the presence
of the first vehicle; determining if the first vehicle and the
second vehicle can communicate with each other directly in response
to the receiving; performing the notifying if the first vehicle and
the second vehicle cannot communicate with each other directly;
determining if the first vehicle and the second vehicle have paths
that occur in the same position; and performing the notifying if
the first vehicle and the second vehicle have paths that occur in
the same position and the first vehicle and the second vehicle
cannot communicate with each other directly.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the entity is a third vehicle.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the entity is a stationary
object.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the intermediate node forwards one
or more of the data received from the first vehicle to the second
vehicle and the data received from the second vehicle to the first
vehicle.
5. A method for vehicle-to-vehicle communication, the method
comprising: at an intermediate node of an entity other than a first
vehicle and a second vehicle, receiving data about the first
vehicle; receiving data about the second vehicle; in response to
the receiving the data about the first and the second vehicles, at
least one of, notifying the first vehicle about the presence of the
second vehicle and notifying the second vehicle about the presence
of the first vehicle; determining if the first vehicle and the
second vehicle can communicate with each other directly in response
to the receiving; performing the notifying if the first vehicle and
the second vehicle cannot communicate with each other directly; and
at least one of forwarding data received from the first vehicle to
the second vehicle and forwarding data received from the second
vehicle to the first vehicle, if the first vehicle and the second
vehicle cannot communicate with each other directly.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the data about the first vehicle
includes a geographic location of the first vehicle and dynamic
information about the first vehicle.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the dynamic information includes
one or more of heading direction of the first vehicle and a speed
of the first vehicle.
8. The method of claim 5 wherein the data about the second vehicle
includes a geographic location of the second vehicle and dynamic
information about the second vehicle.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein the dynamic information includes
one or more of a heading direction of the second vehicle and a
speed of the second vehicle.
10. The method of claim 5 wherein the notifying the first vehicle
includes transmitting a geographic location of the second vehicle
to the first vehicle and the notifying the second vehicle includes
transmitting a geographic location of the first vehicle to the
second vehicle.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein the notifying the first vehicle
includes transmitting dynamic information from the second vehicle
to the first vehicle and the notifying the second vehicle includes
transmitting dynamic information from the first vehicle to the
second vehicle.
12. A method for vehicle-to-vehicle communication, the method
comprising: at an intermediate node of an entity other than a first
vehicle and a second vehicle, receiving data about the first
vehicle; receiving data about the second vehicle; in response to
the receiving the data about the first and the second vehicles, at
least one of, notifying the first vehicle about the presence of the
second vehicle and notifying the second vehicle about the presence
of the first vehicle; determining if the first vehicle and the
second vehicle can communicate with each other directly in response
to the receiving; performing the notifying if the first vehicle and
the second vehicle cannot communicate with each other directly; and
wherein the determining includes: receiving link information from
the first vehicle and the second vehicle; and determining that the
first vehicle and the second vehicle cannot communicate with each
other directly if the first vehicle does not include a link to the
second vehicle or the second vehicle does not include a link to the
first vehicle.
13. A system for vehicle-to-vehicle communication, the system
comprising: a telematics unit; and a processor in communication
with the telematics unit, the processor including instructions for
facilitating: receiving data about a first vehicle; receiving data
about a second vehicle; in response to the receiving the data about
the first and the second vehicles, at least one of, notifying the
first vehicle about the presence of the second vehicle and
notifying the second vehicle about the presence of the first
vehicle; determining if the first vehicle and the second vehicle
can communicate with each other directly in response to the
receiving; performing the notifying if the first vehicle and the
second vehicle cannot communicate with each other directly;
determining if the first vehicle and the second vehicle have paths
that occur in the same position; and performing the notifying if
the first vehicle and the second vehicle have paths that occur in
the same position and the first vehicle and the second vehicle can
communicate with each other directly.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present disclosure relates generally to vehicle-to-vehicle
communication, and more particularly, to utilizing an intermediate
node to facilitate the vehicle-to-vehicle communication.
Many active safety (AS) and driver assistance (DA) systems require
information from neighboring vehicles to perform their functions.
Using these applications (AS and DA) in the context of
vehicle-to-vehicle communication, vehicles must discover one
another and establish a communication link to exchange information.
Although the standards are still evolving, the current framework
for achieving periodic communication between vehicles involves each
vehicle broadcasting its spatial information to other vehicles with
no acknowledgement of reception. The only method for discovering
the existence of a neighboring vehicle is to successfully receive a
broadcast message from that vehicle. This method is likely to work
well under normal circumstances when vehicles occupy the same
roadway and there are no obstructions between the vehicles.
FIG. 1 depicts a scenario where the broadcast communication method
fails. The broadcast range of vehicle A 102 is shown by the arc 112
in FIG. 1. Because vehicle C 102 is outside of the arc 112, it is
unable to receive broadcast messages from vehicle A 102. If vehicle
C 106 was within the arc 112, it is likely that the building 110
blocking the line-of-sight between the vehicles would also block
the direct communication between the vehicles. Similarly, vehicle D
108 is also outside of the arc 112 that represents the broadcast
range of vehicle A 102. Vehicle A 102 might not need to be notified
about the presence of Vehicle D 108 because vehicle A 102 and
vehicle D 108 do not have coincident paths.
It would be desirable for Vehicle A 102 to know about the presence
of Vehicle C 106 and vice versa, particularly if the two vehicles
have coincident paths.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the invention, a method is provided for
vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The method includes receiving
data about a first vehicle and a second vehicle within a proximity
of an intermediate node, where the receiving is at the intermediate
node. The first vehicle is notified about the presence of the
second vehicle and/or the second vehicle is notified about the
presence of the first vehicle in response to the receiving.
In another aspect of the invention, a system is provided for
vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The system includes a telematics
unit and a processor in communication with the telematics unit. The
processor includes instructions for facilitating receiving data
about a first vehicle and a second vehicle that are within a
proximity of an intermediate node. The receiving is at the
intermediate node via the telematics unit. The first vehicle is
notified about the presence of the second vehicle and/or the second
vehicle is notified about the presence of the first vehicle in
response to the receiving. The notifying is via the telematics
unit.
In a further aspect of the invention, a computer program product is
provided for vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The computer program
product includes a storage medium readable by a processing circuit
and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit
for performing a method. The method includes receiving data about a
first vehicle and a second vehicle within a proximity of an
intermediate node, where the receiving is at the intermediate node.
The first vehicle is notified about the presence of the second
vehicle and/or the second vehicle is notified about the presence of
the first vehicle in response to the receiving.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring now to the figures, which are meant to be exemplary
embodiments, and wherein the like elements are numbered alike:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of scenario where exemplary embodiments
of the present invention may be utilized to provide communication
between two vehicles;
FIG. 2 is a process flow that may be implemented by exemplary
embodiments of the present invention; and
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a system that may be implemented by
exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a scenario where exemplary embodiments
of the present invention may be utilized to provide communication
between two vehicles. An intermediate communication node aids two
other nodes in their discovery of and communication between each
other in a mobile communications environment. Exemplary embodiments
of the present invention provide a method of utilizing vehicle B
104 (also referred to herein as an intermediate node), to allow
vehicle A 102 (also referred to herein as the first vehicle) to
discover vehicle C 106 (also referred to herein as the second
vehicle) and vice versa. Once the discovery is made, the two
vehicles (vehicle A 102 and vehicle C 106) may communicate with one
another through vehicle B 104 (the intermediate node) by using a
different network protocol or by using a different set of
communication parameters, such as a higher power level or different
communication channel.
FIG. 1 depicts a simple scenario where vehicle B 104 is able to
receive broadcast messages from both vehicle A 102 and vehicle C
106. Vehicle A 102 and vehicle C 106 are not able to receive each
other's broadcast messages since the communication range of the
broadcast is exceeded and/or an object (the building 110) obstructs
the line-of-sight between the two. In this scenario, vehicle B 104
has received messages from both vehicle A 102 and vehicle C 106 and
is aware of the other vehicles' locations and dynamics. Before
enabling itself as an intermediate node between vehicle A 102 and
vehicle C 106, vehicle B 104 may determine if it is useful for the
two vehicles to communicate and whether the two vehicles are
already communicating. Vehicle B 104 (the intermediate node) may
perform these two tasks in an order or perform them in
parallel.
FIG. 2 is a process flow that may be implemented by exemplary
embodiments of the present invention to provide vehicle-to-vehicle
communication between vehicle A 102 and vehicle C 106. At block
202, vehicle B 104 discovers vehicle A 102 and vehicle C 106.
Vehicle A 102 and vehicle C 106 are within a proximity of vehicle B
104 which is limited by the range of the telematics units used to
broadcast data from vehicle A 102 and vehicle C 106. In addition,
the user may further limit the proximity of vehicle A 102 and
vehicle C 106 to vehicle B 104 before initiating the processing
depicted in FIG. 2.
In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, vehicle B 104 is
monitoring a communication channel that is reserved for
vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Both vehicle A 102 and vehicle C
106 are constantly broadcasting their presence via this
communication channel. The broadcasting may include just the
geographic location (e.g., global positioning service (GPS)
coordinates) with more specific information about vehicle A 102 or
vehicle C 106 being transferred to vehicle B 104 in response to an
inquiry to vehicle A 102 or vehicle C 106 from vehicle B 104. The
more specific information (also referred to herein as dynamic
information) may include speed of the vehicle and heading of the
vehicle. The dynamic information may be transferred to vehicle B
104 via a different channel than that used for the geographical
location and/or via a different network protocol than that used for
the geographical location. Alternatively, both the geographical
location and the dynamic information may be broadcast via the same
communication channel on a continuous basis and not only in
response to a request for the data from the intermediate node (in
this example, vehicle B 104).
By observing the broadcast messages emitted by vehicle A 102 and
vehicle C 106, vehicle B 104 can collect the location and dynamic
information from vehicle A 102 and vehicle C 106. Dynamic
information refers to information used to predict the future
location of the vehicle to which the information pertains. Dynamic
information may include, but is not limited to, any vehicle data
such as speed of the vehicle, heading of the vehicle, yaw-rate of
the vehicle, steering angle of the vehicle, acceleration of the
vehicle, brake status of the vehicle, turn signal status of the
vehicle, type of AS system on the vehicle, AS generated data, type
of DA system on the vehicle, DA generated data. At block 204,
vehicle B 104 monitors the spatial relationship between vehicle A
102 and vehicle C 106 using the collected location and dynamic
information. In block 206, the intermediate node (vehicle B 104)
determines if vehicle A 102 and vehicle C 106 have coincident
paths. Coincident paths occur when vehicle A 102 and Vehicle C 106
are in the same geographic area at the same time. Vehicle A 102 and
vehicle C 106 may have coincident paths, for example, if the
vehicles are within some specified range of each other or if they
are estimated to come within a specified range of each other. The
specified range may be user defined, variable with dynamic
conditions, or a default value may be utilized. In some cases, the
existence of a coincident path may indicate the possibility of a
collision between the two vehicles. The example rules below may be
applied to the location and dynamic information received from
vehicle A 102 and vehicle C 106 to determine whether or not the two
vehicles should be communicating to each other because they have
coincident paths (actual and/ or some estimated likelihood). As
input to the rules, vehicle B 104 may estimate the future paths of
the vehicle A 102 and vehicle C 106 using standard calculations
based on current position, vehicle heading, yaw-rate, steering
angle, and acceleration. Some sample rules are as follows: 1.
vehicle A 102 and vehicle C 106 are within some range of one
another; 2. vehicle A 102 and vehicle C 106 are within some time of
one another (where the time may be user defined or a default value
may be utilized and time refers to time to collision based on the
current locations of the vehicles) 3. the estimated paths of
vehicle A 102 and vehicle C 106 intersect; 4. vehicle A 102 and
vehicle C 106 are estimated to come within some range of one
another; 5. vehicle A 102 and vehicle C 106 are estimated to come
within some time of one another (where the time refers to time to
collision based on a prediction of future locations of vehicle A
102 and Vehicle C106) and 6. vehicle A 102 and vehicle C 106 have
similar headings.
When one or more of these criteria are met, vehicle B 104 may
determine, at block 206, that vehicle A 102 and vehicle C 106
should be communicating because they have coincident paths. The
rules may be fixed within vehicle B 104 or may be configurable
based on the geometry and dynamics of the situation. In addition,
the rules may change as vehicle B 104 becomes aware of the AS or DA
applications being executed on either vehicle A 102 or vehicle C
106. Vehicle B 104 may extract and apply rules from either or both
of the other vehicles to determine whether communication is
beneficial. If it is determined, at block 206, that the vehicles do
not have coincident paths, then processing continues at block 204.
Vehicle A 102 and vehicle D 108 would not be found to have a
coincident path at block 206 and as a result processing would
continue at block 204 to monitor the spatial relationship between
vehicle A 102 and vehicle D 108. The intermediate node may be
monitoring several pairs of vehicles at a time and performing the
processing depicted in FIG. 2 for each pair.
If it is determined, at block 206, that the vehicles have
coincident paths, then block 208 is performed to determine if
vehicle A 102 and vehicle C 106 can communicate with each other
directly (e.g. are they within each other's broadcast range, is an
object blocking communication). An object obstructing or blocking
communication may include, but is not limited to a building, a
truck, and another vehicle). Any method known in the art may be
utilized to perform this determination. An exemplary, and
relatively simple, method is for vehicle B 104 to issue a request
to vehicle A 102 and/or vehicle C 106 for its link information. The
request could be very general and ask one of the vehicles for all
of its link information, or the request could be specific and ask
the vehicle if it has a link to another specific vehicle. If the
response from the other vehicle is that a reliable communication
link is established, vehicle B 104 should not act as an
intermediate node and the processing continues at block 204.
However, if a reliable link has not been established, vehicle B 104
notifies one or both of the other vehicles (vehicle A 102 and
vehicle C 106) that the complimentary vehicle exists at block 210.
So, vehicle B 104 would notify vehicle A 102 of the existence of
vehicle C 106 and/or vehicle B 104 would notify vehicle C 106 of
the existence of vehicle A 102. In an alternate exemplary
embodiment, vehicle B 104 blindly forwards packets from vehicle A
102 to vehicle C 106 and vice versa until vehicle B 104 determines
that the two vehicles should no longer exchange information or that
they are communicating directly. Processing then continues at block
204.
The process depicted in FIG. 2 is just one example of how vehicle B
104 can act as an intermediate node for vehicle A 102 and vehicle C
106. Other process flows are possible to determine when and how to
communicate the presence of vehicle A 102 to vehicle C 106 and vice
versa. For example, vehicle B 104 could broadcast any data that it
receives and not go through blocks 204 through 208 in FIG. 2. As
part of a general periodic broadcast message, each vehicle could
code its link information into the message so that any other
vehicle could determine if a link with a third, coincident vehicle
is missing. The other vehicles would decode the link information
and attempt to find the missing links to other coincident vehicles.
The link information could include all other vehicles with which
the vehicle has a direct communication link or may only contain
links for other vehicles with which it has determined meet the
coincident criteria. The coding scheme used could simply be a
straight copy of the link table, or the link table meeting some
criteria, or could be represented by a mathematical formula that
relates node identification and/or geographic location to create a
semi-unique number allowing other vehicles to determine which of
the coincident vehicles is not linked, or an encrypted and/or
compressed version of any of these.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a system that may be implemented by
exemplary embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 3 includes
vehicle A 102 (also referred to herein as the first vehicle) and
vehicle C 106 (also referred to herein as the second vehicle) in
communication with vehicle B 104 (also referred to herein as the
intermediate node). Vehicle A 102 includes a telematics unit for
communicating with vehicle B 104, a GPS device (or any other
geographic location system for determining the geographic location
of vehicle A 102) and end node logic for determining when and what
data to communicate to vehicle B 104. The end node logic may be in
communication with AS and DA systems on vehicle A 102. In addition,
the end node logic may collect vehicle status information,
environment data and/or driver information data to transmit to
vehicle B 104 to determine if communication should be established
with vehicle C 106. The end node logic may be implemented by
hardware and/or software and in an exemplary embodiment of the
present invention is implemented by software that is located on a
dedicated or shared microprocessor in vehicle A 102. Vehicle C 106
also includes a telematics unit, a GPS device and end node logic
similar to vehicle A 102.
Vehicle B 104, the intermediate node, also includes a telematics
unit for communicating with vehicle A 102 and vehicle C 106 as well
as a GPS device. In addition, vehicle B 104 includes intermediate
node logic for performing the processing described above in
reference to FIG. 2. The intermediate node logic may be implemented
by hardware and/or software and in an exemplary embodiment of the
present invention is implemented by software that is located on a
dedicated or shared microprocessor in vehicle B 104. In alternate
exemplary embodiments, vehicle A 102, vehicle B 104, and vehicle C
106 each include the intermediate node logic as well as the end
node logic so that any of the three vehicles may perform the
processing described in FIG. 2 to act as an intermediate node if
needed.
The communication between the vehicles may be provided by any
method known in the art, including, but not limited to any IEEE
802.11 protocol or any dedicated short range communication (DSRC)
device utilizing a single or multiple channel protocol with fixed
or variable transmission power.
Other items, besides vehicles, may be utilized to provide the
functionality of the intermediate node. For example, stationary
objects, such as traffic signals, may be utilized as an
intermediate node to perform the processing described in reference
to vehicle B 104 above.
In alternative exemplary embodiments of the present invention,
vehicle A 102 acts as the intermediate node. This may occur when
vehicle A 102 can "hear" communication from vehicle C 106 but
vehicle C 106 cannot hear communication from vehicle A 102. In this
case vehicle A 102 may try to communicate with. vehicle C 106 using
a different protocol or by increasing. the broadcasting power.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention may be utilized to
extend the broadcast range of vehicles without increasing the
transmission power. Another advantage of exemplary embodiments of
the present invention is that the broadcast communication between
vehicles is extended beyond line of sight. The associated overhead
may be reduced when compared to alternative ad hoc network
protocols. Further, exemplary embodiments of the present invention
allow nodes to discover one another and use other ad hoc network
protocols to establish a communication link.
As described above, the embodiments of the invention may be
embodied in the form of hardware, software, firmware, or any
processes and/or apparatuses for practicing the embodiments.
Embodiments of the invention may also be embodied in the form of
computer program code containing instructions embodied in tangible
media, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, or any other
computer-readable storage medium, wherein, when the computer
program code is loaded into and executed by a computer, the
computer becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention. The
present invention can also be embodied in the form of computer
program code, for example, whether stored in a storage medium,
loaded into and/or executed by a computer, or transmitted over some
transmission medium, such as over electrical wiring or cabling,
through fiber optics, or via electromagnetic radiation, wherein,
when the computer program code is loaded into and executed by a
computer, the computer becomes an apparatus for practicing the
invention. When implemented on a general-purpose microprocessor,
the computer program code segments configure the microprocessor to
create specific logic circuits.
While the invention has been described with reference to exemplary
embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that
various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for
elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention.
In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular
situation or material to the teachings of the invention without
departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is
intended that the invention not be limited to the particular
embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out
this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments
falling within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, the use
of the terms first, second, etc. do not denote any order or
importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to
distinguish one element from another.
* * * * *